Tag: Dwarves

Dan Wang on who the mountains beckon. From his annual letter.

March 11th, 2023

His annual letter has arrived at last.

Mountains have always beckoned to dissenters, rebels, and subversives. It is not only the air that thins out at higher elevations: the tendrils of the state do too. Small bands of people only need to hike a while to find a congenial refuge in the mountains; it’s far harder for imperial administrators with their vast caravans to locate all the hideouts. Throughout history, therefore, people have climbed upwards to escape the state. It is not only to take leave of the irksome tax collector; it’s also to break free of the problems that accompany dense populations – epidemics, conscription, and the threat of state-scale warfare. As a consequence, people who dwell in the mountains tend to be seen as unruly folks, be they Appalachian Americans or Highland Scots.
Wang, Dan. March 4, 2023. https://danwang.co/2022-letter/

Can’t help but read this in the light of a Star Wars pilot script. Imperials, rebels, dissenters? Wasn’t Hoth a giant ice mountain? Or at least it had a mountain range. Also, see the dwarves from the Hobbit. Proper dissenter-rebels they were too.

Extending the observation further. Are mountain visitors dissenters, rebels, and subversives? Or only permanent residents?

Plenty of mind expanding ideas and observations in this year’s edition.
Mr. Baggins and friends bring us into Autumn

September 24th, 2022

About four days from the enchanted stream they came to a part where most of the trees were beeches. They were at first inclined to be cheered by the change, for here there was no undergrowth and the shadow was not so deep. There was a greenish light about them, and in places they could see some distance to either side of the path. Yet the light only showed them endless lines of straight grey trunks like the pillars of some huge twilight hall. There was a breath of air and a noise of wind, but had a sad sound. A few leaves came rustling down to remind them that outside was coming on. Their feet ruffled among the dead leaves of countless other autumns that drifted over the banks of the path from the deep red carpets of the forest.
Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Hobbit or There and Back Again. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997. (See pages 128,129)

We’ll let Mr. Baggins, Beorn, Thorin, Fili, Balin, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Gloin, Dori, and bumbling Bombur usher us into fall.

Tag: Dwarves

Dan Wang on who the mountains beckon. From his annual letter.

Mr. Baggins and friends bring us into Autumn